Mega campus aiming for Passivhaus welcomes pupils

Over 2700 lucky pupils and staff are now back to school at the two new high schools targeting Passivhaus situated in Fife Council's new Dunfermline Learning Campus. Once certified, the project is on target to claim the UK's largest Passivhaus building title. The St Columba’s RC and Woodmill high schools are co-located in one single building that has a combined treated floor area of 23,151 m².

High Schools, Dunfermline Learning Campus. Image credit: Keith Hunter Photography

Designed by PHT Patron AHR, certified by PHT Patron WARM, with PHT member AECOM as structural engineer, the project is a Pathfinder project for Scotland's Net Zero Public Sector Building Standard.

Good form factor was an important early consideration. The project team was keen to keep the form of the large building as compact as possible. Merging both high schools into one single building allowed for a highly efficient form factor thus reducing the building fabric heat loss area.

High Schools, Dunfermline Learning Campus. Image credit: Keith Hunter Photography

Minimising primary energy demand for school buildings can be challenging. It was important for the design team to understand the profiles of use for the high demand spaces, such as home economics and design & technology, in order to input accurate energy figures from accurately developed usage profiles. Careful consideration was given to the building’s orientation to maximise daylight and naturally warm the building.

Key stats

Construction: Precast concrete frame, CLT & steel frame
Number of occupants (pupils/ staff): 2,759
Gross internal floor area (GIFA): 26,666 m²
Treated floor area (TFA): 23,151 m²
Form factor: 1.7
Build start date: 2022
Completion date: August 2024
Certification: Aiming for Passivhaus Classic

High Schools, Dunfermline Learning Campus. Image credit: Keith Hunter Photography

Construction

The building combines three construction types for different elements of the building.

Precast concrete frame. Image credit: AHR

Precast concrete frame

& steel frame

CLT panels

The teaching wings comprise a three storey precast concrete frame with load bearing precast walls and columns supporting precast hollowcore slabs, with structural concrete topping.

The building's central core (excluding the dining area) comprises a two storey braced steel frame, supporting precast hollowcore slabs with structural concrete topping.

The sports block is a two storey CLT frame. The upper floor and roof deck are formed with CLT, supported by loadbearing CLT walls.

Sports Hall, Dunfermline Learning Campus. Image credit: Keith Hunter Photography

The specification of precast concrete frame and CLT frame aimed to help simplify the achievement of airtightness targets on site.

Embodied carbon

Embodied carbon targets were aiming for a budget of under 650kg/CO₂e/m^2,as per RIBA 2025 Target and the Net Zero Carbon Public Sector Building Standard. Internal comfort and natural light levels were an important consideration and internal courtyards allow natural light to penetrate deep into the building.

Services

A series of modular air source heat pumps (ASHP) are used to heat the building. The school is heated by a mix of heating modes, including radiant panels and underfloor heating. The building's domestic hot water requirements are met by utilising central storage systems to serve the main kitchen, with a separate system for the sports block.

Central MVHR solutions are generally adopted within the design, with some selected areas on the ground floor being ventilated via individual room MVHR solutions. Low energy LED lighting solutions are incorporated throughout the building and roof-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) panels provide renewable electricity.

A southern brise soleil and east & west shading fins reduce overheating in the summer months. Shading canopies are used around the main east-facing glazed entrance and along some teaching rooms.

Brise Soleil to south facing windows. ASHPs and AHUs. Image credit: AHR

Shading fins to sports block. Image credit: AHR

Element

Main building (precast concrete)

Sport block (CLT)

Floor

Ground bearing concrete slab with underslab insulation

U-value: 0.106 W/m²K

Ground floor concrete slab with above slab insulation and floor screed

U-value :0.106 W/m²K

Wall

Precast concrete frame. External cavity mineral wool insulation wall with facing brick and vertical seamed aluminium cladding (unvented) with insulation

U-value: 0.125 W/m²K

CLT frame. External cavity mineral wool insulation wall with facing brick and vertical seamed aluminium cladding (unvented) with insulation

U-value :0.135 W/m²K

Roof

Inverted roof with insulation on waterproofing on concrete structural topping

U-value: 0.102 W/m²K

Inverted roof with insulation on waterproofing on CLT planks.

U-value: 0.093 W/m²K

High Schools, Dunfermline Learning Campus. Image credit: Keith Hunter Photography

Architect’s view

In order to achieve the Passivhaus standard on a building of this scale, it was essential that we were guided by Passivhaus principles from the outset. Although Passivhaus is a fundamental and integral part of the design approach to the new school, design quality was always at the forefront of any decisions made. Following the Scottish Funding Trust’s Energy in Use requirements, the building was designed to a stringent set of criteria to ensure maximum comfort with minimum overall energy consumption, designing to the Passivhaus standard guaranteed we met the Energy in Use criteria.

Jamie Gregory, Passivhaus Designer & Project Architect, AHR

Key team

Clients: Fife Council

Architects: AHR Architects

Contractors: BAM Construction

M&E Design: Rybka

Structural Engineer: AECOM

Passivhaus Certifier: WARM

Congratulations to the whole team on their whopping achievement, putting Dunfermline and Scottish Passivhaus schools on the global map. We look forward to sharing news of the project's Passivhaus certification any time soon!